


Afterlife-Tale

by CrossBladeWing



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Attonement, Bad Puns, Family, Feels, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, Gender-Neutral Frisk, Gender-Neutral Pronouns, Multi, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-26
Packaged: 2018-05-04 20:20:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,313
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5347325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CrossBladeWing/pseuds/CrossBladeWing
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There wasn’t anything they could do for them then, but they could do something for them now.</p>
<p>Basically my take on an alternate ending of genocide run.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> I do NOT own Undertale or it's Characters.
> 
> Trying my hand at this after watching let's plays and reading fanfics of it.

There wasn’t anything they could do for them then, but they could do something for them now.

Asgore didn’t know what happened. He was in his palace one moment---then a really sharp pain---darkness---and now he was in a house. It was warm and cozy. He was standing in the entryway. To his left was a kitchen and more rooms down a short hall. There were stairs and a living room to his right. There was someone sitting on a chair by the fire. The figure got up and raised their fire magic and Asgore got his ready as well and then they turned to face him. He stopped. She was still the same as always. Toriel extinguished her flames and looked over at Asgore skeptically. “What are you doing here?” she asked keeping her voice neutral. Asgore shrugged. “Not sure, I woke up here.” Toriel seemed to process this and then sighed. She gestured to the chair on the other side of the fireplace and Asgore obliged. They sat in silence, waiting. What they were waitng for they didn’t know but it was going to happen soon. Whatever it was.

A small figure, watched from outside as the two former royals watched the fireplace. They watch with determination.

\------------------------

Alphys was scared. She was in the middle of a forest and it was snowing, but she didn’t feel cold. She nervously looked around her surroundings. Where was she? How did she get here? Where was Undyne? The human? Mettaton? Everything in her head made her world spin until she spotted a figure among the trees. She immediately hid behind a tree, but she heard no footsteps. She peeked back around the tree and the figure was still there. She gulped and stepped out hesitantly from behind the tree, wringing her hands a little. “H-h-hello?” she called. The figure shifted slightly. “W-where am i?” she called. The little figure didn’t answer, but raised an arm beckoning to her. She was trying to figure out who they could be. She thought for a moment, doubts rising to her mind. The figure was small and looked vaguely like a small child, but should she follow them? But what else could she do? She slowly walked towards the figure and they began moving away from her.She continued following the little figure until she was led out of the forest and into a snowy road. She had to wipe her glasses a few times, but she could make out the little figure by a house shaped like a fish-head. Alphys practically ran to the door, knocking frantically.

Undyne heard several knocks on the door and went to the door and opened it. There stood Alphys. “U-Undyne?!” Alphys cried shocked. “Alphys? What are you doing here?” Undyne asked. Alphys couldn’t contain herself as she practically tackled the fish-woman to the floor. Undyne quickly sat up as Alphys cried into her tank-top. She’d never seen Alphys like this. “H-hey...Are you ok?” she asked. Alphys looked up, tears running down her orange cheeks. “A-a-am I o-ok?! W-what a-about y-y-you?!” She said between sobs. Undyne didn’t know what to do, but she did her best to gather Alphys into a hug, which might have been a little too tight, but Alphys immediately stopped crying and a deep red blush grew on her face. Alphys hesitantly put her arms around Undyne as well and they held each other. Then Alphys’s stomach growled. Undyne laughed a bit and moved to get up. “Come on Alphys, let’s make you some food.” She held her hand out to her friend. Alphys wiped her eyes and took her hand. They went into the kitchen.

As Undyne started getting out ingredients, Alphys nervously looked around the kitchen. It was definitely Undyne’s house, but hadn’t it burnt down during one of her’s and Papyrus’s cooking lessons some time ago? Undyne saw Alphys’s face from the corner of her eyes and looked back to prepping making cookies. “Don’t worry too much Alphys.” Alphys jumped a bit when she spoke. “W-what?” she asked, nervous at the flat, serious tone of Undyne’s voice. Undyne turned towards her from her spot by the stove. “I’ve got a feeling that we’re here for something and as soon as we find out what’s causing this I can kick it’s butt.” Undyne smiled, showing her sharp yellow teeth. Alphys laughed nervously, but she felt better. Where they were and how they were there could wait. 

They were unaware of the little figure in the window. They walk away with determination.

\-----------------------------

Sans got up and immediately felt around his ribcage and jacket, but there was no wound. He sighed and wondered if the world had RESET again. The kid....the kid....Sans face scrunched up in part anger and part sadness at the thought of the kid. His left eye still glowed with his magic and his magic lit up his hands, but he quickly snuffed them out and looked around himself. He was by a mountain and a forest in winter, it was even snowing. There was no door on the side of the mountain, only rock. Sans spotted a log and sat down on it, thinking. Well, where was he now? The place looked familiar but at the same time foreign. Had the RESET changed this world into a whole new timeline? Wait---if the world had reset then.... PAPYRUS! He quickly stood up and was about to head towards where he thought his and Papyrus’s house would be when he saw a figure. It was a small skeletal figure. 

It was down the snowy road and was staring right at Sans. He looked them over. They were wearing blue pants, a purple and blue striped sweater with a red heart on it and a long red scarf. Hey wait---that scarf was! “HEY!” Sans called, feeling his eye glow blue and hands light with the blue light of his magic. The little skeleton ran away and Sans flew after them, using his magic to keep up with them. How were they so damn fast? He kept following them until they came to a cliff, where he settled himself back on the ground. However, once he blinked they were gone. He sat up and rubbed his skull, sighing heavily, the blue light of his magic fading out. Then he heard a familiar voice that rattled his bones. “YOU THERE! COME BACK HERE! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, DEMAND TO KNOW WHERE I AM AND WHY YOU KEEP RUNNING FROM ME!!!!!!!” Sans got up and staggered a little bit, facing the direction of the voice. Papyrus, in his usual uniform, flew out from behind trees and ran straight into Sans, knocking them both into the snow.

“I’M SO SORRY!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Papyrus said, getting off of whoever it was that he just ran into. Sans rubbed his skull again and was going to say something, when his brother tackled him into the snow in a bone-crushing hug. “SANS!!!! WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?! I’VE BEEN LOOKING AT YOU FOR AGES!!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?! WHERE ARE WE?! WHO WAS THAT---OH WAIT NO I’M SORRY FOR RUNNING INTO YOU I WAS CHASING A LITTLE SKELETON. HAVE YOU SEEN HIM? HE WAS WEARING A SWEATER SIMILAR TO YOURS.” Papyrus said all the while squeezing Sans hard enough for him to hear both their bones creak in protest. He pushed Papyrus away. “Good to see you too, bro.” Papyrus just smiled at Sans. Sans smiled back. “So what’s this about a skeleton kid in a hoodie like mine?” Sans asked a little confused. There was another skeleton kid? “OH YES! I’VE BEEN TRYING TO CATCH HIM SINCE I GOT HERE. HE EVEN LED ME HOME. I’VE BEEN TRYING TO CATCH HIM BUT KEEP GETTING LOST JUST TO BE LED BACK HOME AGAIN.” Papyrus explained.

Sans thought about this. What was the little monster after? They both heard a long baritone note, coming from over the cliff. The both got up, dusted the snow off themselves and walked over to the cliff, where at the bottom stood the little skeleton with a trombone. Sans quirked a smile, but then changed to a more neutral face as he looked them over. They weren’t wearing a scarf he saw or the blue hoodie that Papyrus was talking about, but the same striped sweater with a heart. They stared up at them and then walked away into the trees again. Sans eyes followed them until they disappeared. Where were they going? “SANS LOOK! THE LITTLE ONE HAS DONE IT AGAIN! THERE’S THE HOUSE!” Papyrus said pointing a bony arm in the direction of their house. He looked to where he pointed a sure enough there was their house. Sans turned to his brother and said, “Come on Papyrus. Let’s go home before we end up bone cold dead.” Papyrus raised his non-existent bone brow and said, “OF COURSE SANS. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE LITTLE ONE?” Sans shrugged, smiling at his little joke. “We’ll see the little guy later. He’s a bony little thing ain’t he?” Sans said. “SANS!!!” Papyrus whined. “What? Not humerus for you bro?” Sans said laughing. “SAAANNNNSSSS!!!”

The little skeleton watched the two from a tree as they walked out of sight. Soon. They are filled with determination.


	2. End of the Beginning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hello again.

They waited until all of them were settled into their homes, Sans mostly. Then they were all the transported to one location. The three houses were situated in a “+” formation on a single snowy road, surrounded by trees. The crossroad kept going and all the occupants ran out of their houses to meet the others. “Papyrus?!” “UNDYNE!” “G-guys!!” “Sans?” “Toriel?” “ASGORE?!” “YOUR MAJESTY?!!!”----collectively, “WHAT’S GOING ON?!?!?!?!?!”” They look to each other for answers but find none. Sans speaks up, “So...anybody else see a little bone kid?” Alphys asks, “B-bone kid? L-like a little s-skeleton?” Sans nods. Undyne looks confused as does Asgore. Toriel stays quiet and looks at the floor. Suddenly, Papyrus speaks up, “WELL I, THE GREAT PAPYUS HAVE BEEN TRACKING THE CHILD FOR A WHILE---” “And you haven’t caught him yet?!” Undyne demanded. “NO. BUT FEAR NOT!! I SHALL CAPTURE HIM SOON.” “That’s what you said with the....human....” Undyne trailed off an angry look on her face.

Alphys turns towards the sound of little feet walking through snow. There they were, a little skeleton figure in a striped sweater with a heart in it. Alphys gapes at them. Undyne notices them and readies a spear in their direction. They take a half step back, but then step back up. They walk towards them, a determined expression on their skull. When they come within 10 feet of them they stop. They turn to look at each person’s face. Toriel’s face wells up with tears as she falls to her knees in the snow. Her hands cover her nose and mouth as she weeps. “Toriel?!” “Are you alright?” “Tori?” “YOUR MAJESTY?!” The little skeleton comes up to her and their little bony hands push away Toriel’s fluffy white paws away from her face. Those small hands hold her face and they lean in to touch foreheads. “My child...I---” she whispers, but they don’t let her finish as they nuzzle her a little. She wraps her hand around their body and holds them in understanding. They let go and she stands back up. 

They then go to Asgore. They lift their hands up and wait. Asgore looks down at them questionably, but Toriel puts a hand on his big shoulder and nods. He stares at her for she has never touched him since they parted ways. He leans down and picks the skeletal child in his arms and brings them to his face and the little child’s hands gently cup his cheeks. Their face crinkles into a smile and Asgore finds himself doing the same. He doesn’t know this child but he can understand the happiness and the touch of sadness in the smile. The child slides their bony hands into the fur on his neck and he is hugged just like Toriel was and nuzzled. Asgore returns the gesture as tears prick his eyes. This child reminded him so much of his other children---The child seeming to sense his mood leaned back and placed his forehead against Asgore’s. Asgore let the tears fall but they were cleared away by the child. He puts them down as more tears begin to prick at his eyes. They pat his paw reassuringly and walk over to Undyne and Alphys.

Undyne slowly lowers her spear as they approach. They go to her first and she stares down, trying to intimidate them. Their determined skull stares back and she just “hrmphs”. The kid slowly goes over and hugs her around her legs. “What the---? Hey kid! What are you doing?” she says, letting go of the spear in surprise, unsure what to do about them hugging her legs. So she scruffs them by their sweater and holds them close to her face. She looks angry with her face scrunched up and her sharp teeth showing but they are not scared. They actually start crying and jump from Undyne’s arms to her neck, latching on as tears run from their sockets. Undyne isn’t sure what to do and Alphys is slightly panicking and pacing around them. Their tears are streaming down her scales and she can feel the sorrow and the pain and the regret. It tears at her, even as she tries to fight it, but she can’t find the anger anymore. She slowly places her arms around them, almost cradling them to her. They stop and look to her face. Her face says it all, the frowned brows, the way she pouts and her eyes look at them and see. The tears pour down their face like small streams and nothing needs to be said. 

Undyne pulls them closer then let’s them go without a word, placing them down as gently as she can, which almost has them tumbling to the snow. She smiles crookedly despite the sadness in her expression. They move once again towards her but she shakes her head and jerks her head to Alphys. They nod and turn to face her. Alphys jumps a bit, startled. She is nervously looking at them and looking away, wringing her hands. They step closer and she shifts and they decide to run to her and hug her around her midsection. She freezes up. “u-uum...?” she says. Her mind starts working though and her brows furrow and she looks to Undyne who’s looking at her, face unreadable. However, her eyes are sad and expectant, like she’s waiting for something. Alphys looks down at the child and really looks at them. She stares and they just hold her, knowing that even with her brilliant mind she’s still a little stumped about what was going on. They knew she’d figure it out though, she wasn’t the Underground’s scientist for nothing. Alphys takes a sharp intake of breath, and she knows. They look up at her and she stares wide-eyed down at them. “y-you c-can’t be...?....” she asks, her voice barely above a breath. They slowly nod, as more tears pour down their skull, the expression was as heartbreaking as it was when she was watching them with Undyne. 

Alphys doesn’t move to hug them, her mind is working hard to process this. What was going on? Why were they here? How were they here? Weren’t they--- She stopped there. She didn’t want to think about that. She was vaguely aware of the RESETS, less so than Sans, but she knew. She looked to him then, wondering why he was being so silent all this time. He didn’t say a thing, but his fists were jammed into his pockets and his eye sockets were empty, no visible light within them. Still, he was terrifying. There was a dark and icy chill about him and Alphys shivered and then shifted her gaze to Papyrus, who was equally silent, he looked shocked, mouth agape, as he seemed to try to form words without ever voicing them, opening and closing his jaws repeatedly. His gaze never left the little skeleton. She looked back down to the child still watching her face, waiting for her to speak. “...h-how?..w-what d-did y-you do?” Alphys asked shakily. Their skull shook a little and their sockets crinkled, like they let out nervous laughter. What had they done? They’d done too much in any timeline in every timeline. And they wanted it to be over.

They didn’t say a word to Alphys. She knew this time was different from any other and that scared her. What was going to happen? What was changing? She stopped and looked back to them horror in her eyes. They waited. “Y-you changed s-s-something...d-didn’t y-you?” she asks slowly, carefully trying not the let the weight of those words get to her. They nod. “Y-you know?....” she asks in just the same tone. They nod again, more tears slipping from their sockets as they shake just a little. Alphys closes her arms around them then, petting their head soothingly as tears come to her eyes as well. She looks past them to the others. Undyne’s eyes are watering, Toriel is already crying, Asgore has a helplessly confused expression on his face, Papyrus has gone quiet and his face is overshadowed, like Sans. She turns her attention back to them. “W-what happened t-to you?” she asks softly. They grip her coat more in their skeletal hands. She hears a tiny raspy voice say, “I’m ending this.” She pulls back, holding their shoulders, and shakes her head . “y-you can’t!!...n-no one c-can! I--we---” They pat her claws and she stops, mind thinking again. She slowly looks to them as asks, “Y-you d-didn’t...?” Their expression is sad, as she collapses to the floor, openly sobbing. 

Undyne is at her side in a flash and kneels down next to her, rubbing her back as she looks to them. They step up to Alphys and places their bony hand on her head and crouch in front of her. “I found that if I was determined enough I could do it.” they say softly. She looks up, as the tears fall. Their face is determined and sad. “I don’t have long...” they say. They turn away from her and Undyne to face the skeleton brothers. Both of their faces are overshadowed, but they can feel the heavy mood rolling off them, especially from Sans. Suddenly, Papyrus walks over to them and quickly picks them up. He holds them up to his face, which is worried and even a little frightened. Tears are pricking at his eye sockets. “ARE YOU FRISK?” he asks quickly, even when he’s trying to be quiet it comes out loud enough. Frisk nods his skull, exaggeratedly and scrunches his sockets closed, waiting for Papyrus to drop him or yell, but he does neither and practically slams them into his chestplate. He then starts bawling, waterfalls of tears pouring from his sockets. “AAAAMSHOSWOWWYFISCAYDEDNTNOETWOSUUUAAAMSHOWWYYAASHIDENLYKWWILDMEAAAMMMSHOWWYDATIWEFTUAWWWLAWONE,AYEDAGWEATPAPIRUSH,AMMSHOSHOWWY----” 

He kept going on and on and they were getting worried so they reached his face and he stopped screaming. They knocked their foreheads together and when Papyrus saw them crying as well he pressed back into the embrace. “...I’m so sorry...Papyrus...” they said between tears. Papyrus went still, he hadn’t heard their voice in so long. He held them and rubbed their skull with his red mittened hands. “I KNOW...I KNOW...” He could feel all the pain the guilt the regret and the sadness roll out them, as their red heart seemed to glow. He noticed that that was their soul, and it was pulsing as if it were a real heart. It’s never done that unless Frisk was fighting... They were shaking with the sobs they were making and their soul pulsed in time. When they’d finally calmed down enough to start talking Papyrus asks, “HOW ARE YOU A SKELETON? YOU DID EXPLAIN THAT HUMAN WERE SKELETONS WITH FLESHY ARMOR BUT THEN WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU FLESHY ARMOR?” They shake their head. “It’d take to long to explain... and I’m running out of time.”

That statement worried Papyrus. “WHAT?” he asks pulling them up so he can see them at eye-level. There are tears still in their sockets and they place bony hands on either side of Papyrus’s face. “Don’t worry. You’ll be ok.” they say, wiping away some of the tears left on his skull. “You’ll be ok.” they repeat hugging Papyrus, pressing their skull against his once again. They look past Papyrus to Sans. Sans one glowing blue eye is staring into them, magic glowing around him as he watched you and Papyrus. Papyrus follows where you’re looking and sees Sans. “SANS?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” he yells worried. They hear shifts in the snow, but don’t look away from Sans. They jump from Papyrus’s arms and they feel a familiar blue aura surround their soul as they’re lifted over Papyrus’s skull to Sans. They’re surrounded by light blue flame that doesn’t burn and their soul is a s blue as Sans’s magic. They are afraid, but they are determined.

...to be continued...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes i leave you on a cliffhanger. Won't you enjoy next time? >:) Hope you liked it.


	3. Beginning of Everything

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wanna have a bad time? (to the feels)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry finals!!! You guys should know how it is. This one's a bit of a dosey.

They heard yelling. “No Sans! You PROMISED!!” “S-sans?!” “HEY PUNK! What Are You Doing?!!!” They closed their sockets and waited for something to happen, but nothing did. There was silence. They could still feel themselves being held in place by Sans’s magic. They slowly opened one socket. Sans has a somewhat surprised, but still dark expression on his skull. His left eye glows with the light of his magic as well as his skeletal hand which is lifting them. They tremble but look at him, but he’s not looking at them, but at somebody behind them. They then realize they’re surrounded by both blue and orange magic. “SANS, LET GO OF FRISK.” they here Papryrus say. They’ve never heard him sound so serious. They want to turn and see what Papyrus is doing but they can’t move. So they wait.

“P-papyrus?...H-how aa-re you?....” Alphys trailed off in awe of what was going on. Undyne was watching the exchange a grimace on her face as she looked between the brothers. Toriel was looking at Sans with a pleading expression, fresh tears pouring down her face. Asgore watched this with a grim expression, but said nothing. Sans wasn’t paying much attention to this as he looking at his brother. He hasn’t seen Papyrus use his magic this way...in a long time. He didn’t even think he remembered how. Papyrus’s right eye glowed orange as well as his gloved hand, as he kept Frisk from being pulled to Sans. Sans shook off his initial surprise and said, “Let go, bro.” Papyrus answers, “YOU FIRST.” Sans has never seen him so serious or upset and he sighs, relenting. 

They see the blue light fade from their eyes, but his sockets turn dark and empty as he looks down to the snow. They’re being held by only orange magic, which settles them on the ground before disappearing. They quickly turn to see the orange light fade from Papyrus’s eye as his sockets settle back to being empty sockets. He holds his arms out to them a nervous expression on his face, they run over and take hold of his hands. Questions rise to their skull, but they disregard them and shake their skull at him,seeing them approaching, patting his mitten-covered hands, they hoped was reassuring him. They let go and turned back to Sans. He’s not looking at them. They walk forward and they hear Undyne say, “Hey!” They turn towards her and the others, who look worried/grim and shake their skull at them, a small smile on their skull. They continue walking to Sans.

Sans jaw opens and his skull contorts as if he wants to warn them away, but he clenches his mouth shut with an audible “clack” and stuffs his hands into his jacket pockets. They noticed, but keep walking towards them. They can feel their sins and fear crawling up their back, but their determination pulls them through each step. Once Sans looks up just a bit to look at them, he’s startled as they launch themselves at him and hit him straight in the ribcage. They latch onto his jacket, like a koala, and hold tight. They nuzzle into his ribcage, feeling the ribs under the fabric of his jacket and shirt on their skull, tears are slowly falling down their skull. They were afraid and they shook in their fear, but their determination made them unable to let go. They waited for Sans.

Sans is tense and stiff as they held on, unsure of what to say or do. His hands are half-way out of his pockets, as he looks up to the others a nervous expression on his face as he sweats. The others look as lost as he does, but they recover. Toriel motions from him to hug them back. Asgore nods. Undyne sneers at him and says, “Hug back already!!” Alphys looks nervous, but she gives him a shy smile. He looks to Papyrus. Papyrus huffs at him, hands on his hips and says, “WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?”. He lets out a breath and slumps, wrapping his arms around Frisk. 

When Sans’s arms wrap around them, they’re happy and move so it’s as though Sans is holding them against his ribcage. They don’t look at his skull, but focus on his collar bone. It’s not until they see a soft blue glow do they look up at Sans. His eye is glowing blue like before and his ever-present grin seems to falter at their regard, but he says nothing. They do their best not to flinch or look away. He opens his mouth to say something, but before he can say anything they look back down and slowly, hesitantly take one of his hands and examine it. Their fear of his magic is still there, but they’re relieved when the blue flames don’t burn them. Instead they feel warm and protected. They intertwine their fingers and hold Sans’s hand, a sad expression runs across their face on how well they fit, skeletal hands laced together.

Sans watches them and does his best not to make any sudden moves. He activated his magic on purpose, getting an answer for a question he had always dreaded to ask. Did they know? And now he got his answer. The kid was afraid, he could tell, but they were too determined to let their fear take over. He let them runs their hands over his hand, he’d let them say what they wanted on their terms. He stole a glance at the others before looking back at the skeletal child in his arms. He wasn’t going to get to the point with everyone around. They’d dunk him if he didn’t let the kid have his piece. He was brought out of his thoughts when a hand reached up and held his cheekbone near his still glowing blue eye.

They looked up at Sans, a troubled expression on their face. A million things to say, but where to start? Sans let go of their hand to wrap around them in his hold. “Hey, bonehead.” he said trying to keep his tone light. That startled a small laugh from them. They had calmed down. “...I don’t know where to start...” their voice was small. “Just start at the beginning.” Sans said. They shake their skull. “It’d take too long to explain and time’s running out...”they said. Sans skull furrowed. “What do you mean?” he said insistent. They let out a breath, gathering their thoughts. They steel their determination as say, “No more RESETS.”

They watch Sans blue eye narrow and then the magic burns a little brighter. “....What?” he says. “No more RESETS. No more SAVES. No more RELOADS. No more CONTINUES.” They say more clearly. Sans is wide-socketed. “uh...wow kid...” Sans seems to gulp. “I-if this is you pulling my leg...it ain’t funny.” They huff and everything comes out. “There’ll be no more timelines after this one, Sans! There’s no more reliving the same timeline over and over and over again! There’s nothing to do anymore! It’s over! It’s done! There’s nothing keeping you guys Underground anymore! I’ve made sure---” They cut themselves off as their throat hurts from disuse and basically yelling. There’s silence.

Sans’s mind is racing through all the timelines he remembers and never, NEVER has Frisk ever done something like this. He’s never come to them as a skeleton, never gave an inkling about knowing other timelines, never said “It’s over”. Sans is trembling, his magic flaring. They try to get out his arms, but he just hold them closer. He looks to the others, who in their shock and confusion have gone silent. He’s unsure of what he’s doing, but for what seems like the millionth time: Sans is afraid. “w-what did you do?” he asks quietly. They don’t answer. “Frisk...” he calls. They don’t say anything. “Frisk.” he says more sternly as he looks at them, finally grasping the situation. They look back, expectant. “What have you done?” he asks. Their fear grows as the tears fall again and a small smile appears on their skull.

“I broke the barrier...After I defeated THEM, I used my soul and the dead childrens’ souls and your guys’ souls. Now, you’re free like everyone else...” they say softly. Sans is shaking his head. “No that can’t-We-you---we’re all DEAD!” he screams. “We’re DUST we DIED. What did YOU DO?” he screams in their skull, almost crushing them in his hold, as his magic starts to burn. “I’m DETERMINED.” they say their determination and their fear on their skull. “I’m NOT going to let you guys just die after all of THAT. You are going to the surface if it KILLS me!!! I’m going to SAVE you!!” They yell, even as their voice breaks and squeaks, just as hard as Sans, taking his face in their hands and looking at him. Their eyes appear this time and they glow red, just like their soul.

Their magic mixes with Sans and the two of them are enveloped in a bright purple light. The others have to shield their eyes and crouch away. Sans souls pops out, a blue heart and their soul rises to meet it. They clash, but soon merge together, forming a single purple heart that pulses between them. They are stunned and are immediately sucked into a whirlwind of emotions and feelings and memories. Thier first meeting. The laughs. Papyrus dying. Sans and Papyrus. Asgore in the field of flowers. The silence. Their time with Toriel. Sans talking to someone behind a rock door. Their time with the brothers. The happiness. The regret. The guilt. They saw everything, connecting, and fusing into one being, but NO. They push away from Sans, painfully splitting their soul from his. They both cry out in pain and loss.

They shakily get to their feet as Sans is left crouching in the snow. His hand on his chest and the magic around him is dimmer. They’re magic is gone from around them. They feel a stillness in the air and a familiar darkness creeping up and they know. Their time is up. There’s a lot of questions unanswered, but they wouldn’t get a second chance. They look towards the others and Sans directs his gaze towards where their looking and he sees them starting to fade. They seem panicked and they’re freaking out, but their voices become grabbled and softer as they’re fading. They all look over to you two determined expressions on their faces.

They try to move closer to the two of them. Toriel looks panicked and afraid. Asgore looks sacred. Undyne is carrying a distraught Alphys over. Papyrus runs over to Sans and kneels by him.They do their best to envelope each other in a group hug, tears rolling down everyone’s faces as they fade away. They can feel there won’t be another chance. There’s no time for proper goodbyes. Toriel strokes your head and gives you a kiss before dissappearing, a sad proud look on her face. Asgore pats your shoulder and give you a smile. Undyne tries to suplex you, as she’s hugging you and Alphys so hard. Alphys hugs you too, but more gently. Papyrus hold you and Sans a happying crying knowing smile on his face as he fades.

They look to each other and a sad smile stretches across their face as they change back into the human form Sans knew so well. Their cheeks are flushed and red as their tears flow. “There’s not a lot of time for goodbye, but here.” They lift their soul to Sans. He’s also starting to fade. He’s trying to grab onto them, but they pass right through them. There are tears running down his face. They shake their head, trying their best to smile. Sans slumps down, he’s on his knees. They take their heart and shove it into his hands, placing a kiss on Sans’s head as their wrap his hands around your soul. They look into each others eyes. Red meeting Blue and then gone. Their human form falls away and once again they’re a skeleton. They hold their hands to their ribcage and close their sockets as darkness envelops them, a purple tear slides down their cheekbone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you liked it!! Maybe?...ok. Might end it here, might not.


	4. Everything Goes On (With or Without You)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> everything has to go on without you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy Holidays everybody!!!! This is the end.

Sans wakes up in a bed of golden flowers. He blinks his sockets open and scrambles to his feet, swaying as he’s still dizzy. There’s sweat beading at his skull as he clutches it, trying to get the world to stop spinning. When everything has settled itself in his sockets, he casts around. Everyone is lying in the flowers. He goes to Papyrus first. He shakes him. “Nyeh....SANS?” he says. He groggily sits up, a hand on his skull. Sans go over to Toriel next. Her face scrunches up before her eyes open and she looks up at him, a small smile on her face as she slowly sits up too. Sans sees Asgore sitting up already and sees Undyne shake Alphys. Papyrus stand up first. “BROTHER, WHY ARE WE IN THE KING’S THRONE ROOM?” Sans could almost see the question marks above his head. He didn’t respond. He just kept looking around the room, hoping that he’d still see the kid with them.

He vaguely heard snippets of the other’s conversation. “T-toriel....” “Papyrus, you goober---” “W-why a-a-are we?....” “sans?...Sans?....SANS!!!” Sans is brought out of his searching by Papyrus. He’s looking at him, concerned. “SANS?” Sans grins, but it doesn’t seem to convince his brother, so he puts his hands in his pockets. He feels something in there. Sans starts shaking, sweat on his skull, sockets wide, as he pulls a red heart out of his pocket. He clutches it to his ribcage, it’s solid and still warm. He wonders why you gave him it. The others are looking at it. Asgore speaks first, “Sans...is that a human soul?...” Toriel stares at him wide and questioning. Alphys is stuttering so much she can’t form words. Undyne has a wicked grin and clamps Sans hard on the back. “Way to go Sans! Now we can finally---” Papyrus is slack-jawed and oddly silent.

Sans runs his thumbs over the heart, but he shakes his skull. He feels over it for a while, it’s solid like thick glass, and has a little weight to it. The others crowd around him to look. Asgore reaches for it and Sans pulls back, unwilling to have him touch it. Toriel looks at it again. It looks familiar but she can’t place it...Undyne tries to swipe it away from Sans and Alphys tries to stop her. Sans dodges out of the way with his magic, but then he feels an orange magic envelope the heart. It flies to Papyrus and Sans also uses his magic to pull it back. The heart is half-outlined in blue and half in orange. Neither brother say anything, but both have strangely determined looks on their faces. Suddenly both of their magic snaps and the heart falls to the floor, a single crack forming in the middle. Sans quickly picks it up again.

The color fades a bit from the heart, but it remains whole, despite the crack. He feels himself tear up as he holds it in his hands. He feels a hairline indent around the shape. Could it?...He wouldn’t look at the others, he was absorbed into his thoughts, he slowly pressed into the line with his thumbs. It clicked open. Silence. Sans felt himself shake as he slowly opened it further. Inside is a thick-rolled piece of paper and a photo of all of them together with Frisk directly in the middle. He quickly takes out the paper, unrolling it and reading. It’s definitely in Frisk’s handwriting, scrawled and there were a lot of sentences crossed out, but it read:

Dear Sans,

If I gave you this letter, there wasn’t time for me to explain everything to you and the others. I’m pretty sure you have a ton of questions. (A skele-ton.) This letter is made to be a”will” or something like that. Ok explanations...Well after I you know, i ended up in a really grey world and there was “the guy who speaks in hands” that river guy kept talking about. His name is W.D. Gaster, he tells me you knew him. We got to talking and we figured out a way for you guys. I could use my determined soul to break the barrier, which is basically what I did or what I’m doing (time is weird). Gaster told me that if i did it i’d break the cycle of resets as well. I’d probably be erased like he did for what i’m doing but if it’ll free you guys it’ll be worth it. I hope I had some way of giving this to you Sans. Please know that everything I’ve done and what I’m doing now is because I care about everyone so very much.

I know that probably no one but you will remember me. I kinda expect it But tell them these for me:

Tell Toriel she was the best mom I ever wanted.  
Tell Papyrus he’s going to be an awesome driver and cook. He’s the coolest dude ever.   
Tell Undyne she’s the strongest monster and she should take care of Alphys.  
Tell Alphys she’ll be great even in the upper world. She needs to take care of Undyne too.  
Tell Mettaton he’ll be a great star.  
Tell Asgore to not give up on humanity or Toriel just yet.  
Tell Flowey, tell ASRIEL he’ll be ok. (Please take him with you guys)

Sans, I love you. Please take care of yourself and Papyrus and everyone else. Don’t give up. Please, for me?

Love,  
Frisk

P.S. Look into my soul again.

Sans feels the tears fall down his cheekbones. He feels his brothers arms around him as Papyrus holds him, reading over the letter. Sans looks over the cracked red heart again opening it to see the picture. He runs a finger over it, not stopping his motion as Papyrus takes the letter, reading it with urgency. He has orange tears pouring from his sockets. He lets the letter fall from his hands to the floor. Toriel comes over and picks it up and reads, tears are running down her face as well. Undyne and Alphys come over and Undyne starts reading it as well. She takes it from Toriel as she collapses into sobs and hands it to Alphys before turning away to wipe tears from her eye. Alphys is crying openly, as Asgore walks over and reads over her. An infinitely sad expression on his face as a few tears fall.

While the others are reading over the letter, the memories flooding back to them. Sans is still running his hands over the picture, until it falls out. He picks it up, but when he tries to put it back there’s another picture. It’s of them and Toriel. She’s holding them in her arms as they smile at each other. Sans gently pries at the picture, until like the other one that picture as well as a bunch of others flood out of the heart, scattering around the flowers. Every one of them is different. Theres a picture of the skeleton brothers and Frisk in the snow of Snowdin. A picture of them at Grillby’s. a picture of them in Alphys’s lab with Undyne and Mettaton. A picture of them in Hotlands with Alphys. A picture of them in Waterfall with Undyne and Monster Kid. A picture of him and Frisk at one of his century statins. Dozens of pictures all of them together, smiling. 

The others turn their heads back to Sans as they hear the photos fall into the flowers. Papyrus, Alphys, and Toriel kneel on the flowers to look over the pictures. Undyne and Asgore look them over, as they’re standing close. Quietly, they gather the pictures into their hands, fresh tears choking their throats unable to speak. They hold onto each other, afraid to let go. Papyrus almost bulldozes into Sans to hold him tightly enough for their bones to be on the verge of snapping, creaking in the process. Sans holds him just as tight. They all stay like that for a while, a heavy silence hanging over their heads. From the tears, Sans face gets determined look to it as he pushes away Papyrus and stands up. He holds the picture of you and him and Papyrus, places it within the heart and it goes back into his pocket. He looks determined as he heads out of the castle, disappearing. He comes back shortly, as if he never left with a potted flower in his hands. It has a face. It speaks, “Where the hell are you taking me? What the hell is---” “S H U T U P.” Sans eye glows blue and the other is an empty void. 

He heads for the barrier. Papyrus sees this and follows, followed by Undyne and Alphys and then by Asgore and Toriel. They are greeted by the sunrise over the mountain as they stand over a cliff looking over forest to a sky of purple, red, orange and yellow. The flower in the pot is speechless, for once. They stand to watch it as the sky turns blue. Sans finally says, “We can’t change anything, but we can do as the kid asked.” His voice was grim, but he got no answer from the others. He didn’t need one. They’d have to live without Frisk. It’s happened in some of the timelines. He’s survived this far he can survive now. Sure he’d still have nightmares and feel the guilt, but there was a hope that they could live. He understood what the kid wanted, even if he hated how it played out. He promised himself to live up to the chance Frisk gave to them. 

None of them noticed a little grey skeleton at the edge of the entrance of the Underground, silently watching them. Another dark figure appears beside it. It’s a dark, goopy shape but has a white face with cracks in the sockets and a permanent smile on it’s face. It holds a hand to the child the child puts their hand in his. The hand they’re holding has holes in them. As Sans turns back, they fade from view, but a small smile comes back to his skull.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kinda hate how i wrote this but i like it and at the same time wanna leave it up to interpretation on how things played out....

**Author's Note:**

> It's a bit rushed I know :p. Hope you enjoyed it anyway. Thanks leave comments on how i'm doing.


End file.
